A HalfRemembered Dream
by geekyartchick
Summary: He was a man possessed of some radical notions.


**Title:** A Half-Remembered Dream (Chapter One)

**Rating:** T

**Word Count:** 3,588

**Characters:** Wally West, Kaldur'ahm, Dick Grayson, Artemis Crock (the rest of the team will come later)

**Pairing(s):** Spitfire. (possibly more to come)

**Summary: **He was a man possessed of some radical notions.

_This is based off Inception, and a gift for my sister, Ironicveghead, whom I love dearly 3. I did not create nor do I own any of the DC characters, or the script for Inception._

* * *

In dreams, one can escape cold harsh reality and replace it with their hopes and desires. Old memories can be re-lived, and every mistake that you've made is forgotten.

After her death, Wallace West hated and loved the dreaming world. He hated it, for it was part of the reason she'd been taken from him. He loved it, for it was the only place that he could see her; the only place that she was alive.

He seemed stuck in between two worlds, and was beginning to lose track of which was real and which wasn't. Artemis haunted him in both. He tried to forget about what he'd done, tried to ignore the guilt that was eating him up inside. Anything to distract him from the truth.

Distractions were what kept him sane.

Wally threw himself into his work, being unable to see the children after the accident. Dick Grayson; his best friend and partner, and him were constantly being sent around the world by STAR Engineering to extract corporate information, generally from wealthy businessmen. It paid well, and it was the one skill that Wally really had.

The 'art' of extraction was one that Wally had mastered years ago, after Oliver Queen had taught him about the concept of shared dreaming. It was something that Oliver, Artemis's uncle, had taught her already, and had been begged by Artemis to show Wally.

It was exhilarating the first time he went into the dream world.

Anything, and almost everything was possible. If you could imagine it in your mind, you could make it real. True inspiration, true creativity, was the foundation of the land of dreams.

It also made it incredibly easy to become fixated on only living in the dream state. So much so, that you eventually forgot that it was only a dream.

The waves crashed around violently against the coarse sandy shore, and rolled his limp form onto the banks. Wally could taste the salty water on his chapped lips, and his eyes burned from the sea.

Though the water nearly drowned out all noise around him, he could hear high-pitched giggles in the distance. He looked to find the source of the noise, and saw a small red-headed boy playing in the sand, and an older blonde girl with him.

Wally tried to yell for them, but his voice cracked. His legs refused to hold the weight of his body, and he collapsed into the cold dirt.

The guards found him minutes later, and in his half-conscious state, could only mumble "Kaldur, Kaldur." They dragged him to the over-decorated complex, and sat him down at the large dining room table, where an elderly man was sitting. In a language unknown to Wally, the head of the guards spoke to the man, and placed the gun, and the top that had been with Wally.

The elderly man, even with his dark skin, looked pale and diminished, like a ghost. He watched Wally eat the porridge-like substance that had been given to him. Then, he slid the gun towards Wally.

"Are you here to kill me?"

Wally didn't respond.

"I believe I know what this is." The old man muttered, knotted hands playing with the top. He spun it on to the ebony table, and it elegantly twirled round. "I've seen it before, a very very long time ago."

He continued to stare at the top, "It belonged, if I recall, to a man, someone I met in a half-remembered dream."

Wally put down his spoon, and looked at the older fellow, who was still in awe of the spinning object.

"A man possessed of some radical notions."

"What is the most resilient parasite?"

A charismatic voice spoke from across the grand dining table. The clatter of metal utensils against plates stacked with food was just loud enough to cause Wally to raise his voice a bit. His client, a Mr. Kaldur'ahm, continued to eat.

"Bacteria? A virus?" Wally motioned with his drink to Kaldur, "An intestinal worm?"

Dick glanced in annoyance at Wally, who had always been one to use theatrics during their jobs. "What my partner is trying to say is-"

"An idea. Resilient... highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed - fully understood - that sticks; right in there somewhere." He pointed to his temple, and took a swig of scotch from his glass.

Kaldur'ahm did not look fully convinced. "What, so that someone like you can steal it?"

"Yes," Dick began to explain, "When you're in the dream state, conscious defenses are lowered and your very thoughts are susceptible to theft. It's called extraction." Wally finished his drink, and placed it onto the table. "But, Mr. Kaldur'ahm, we can teach your mind to defend itself, even against the most skilled extractor."

The man looked at him questioningly, eyes brimming with curiosity. "And how can you do that?"

Smirking, Wally shrugged, "Simple. I am the most skilled extractor. I know how to search your mind, how to find all your secrets. I know all the tricks, and if you allow me, I can train your subconscious so that even when you're asleep, your guard is never down." He paused dramatically, and locked his fingers behind his neck, holding a steady gaze at Kaldur. "However, if you decide to hire me, you have to be completely honest with me. I'll need to know my way around your thoughts better than your girlfriend, your psychologist, anyone."

Wally stood up, moving around the table a bit closer to where Kaldur was enjoying his meal. "If this was a dream, and you had a safe full of secrets, I'd need to know everything in that safe. For this to work out correctly, you have to let me in."

This induced a slight snicker from the man, who placed down his fork and took off the napkin that had been folded over his coat, before his eyes darted towards a painting to the right. His bodyguards moved about, taking away the dish, and opening the doors to an opulent party where guests laughed and spoke in small groups together. The light plucking of string instruments could be heard in the background.

"Gentlemen, I thank you for your proposal, and hope you enjoy the rest of your evening while I consider it."

After Kaldur had left, Dick turned to Wally. "He knows."

"Perhaps," Wally started, but stopped as a sudden tremor shook the building.

"What the hell's going on up there?" Dick said, staring at the chandelier that was still quivering.

The bathroom look as though it hasn't been cleaned in ages.

Not that Wally is complaining, or even able to complain at the moment. His limp body is slumped in a wooden chair, above a bathtub being filled with water.

To his far left, Billy is staring nervously at the extractor, hands twitching slightly on his knees, and a slight build-up of sweat on his forehead. An explosion outside causes the room to wobble, and Billy wonders if the building is stable as he opens the dusty curtains to see rioters making their way towards their location.

Tubes have stretched out across the small apartment, all connecting to a silver briefcase beside Dick's feet.

Billy checks the time. The clock is moving abnormally slow. Good.

Another explosion goes off down the street.

Rain sprinkled against the window with a soft pitter patter, as Billy's head nodded up and down with the movement of the train. Next to him, a young boy, maybe fifteen, checked the cords attached to all four of the men's wrists.

He moved his arm to look at his watch. Everything seemed to be going on schedule.

Another train rushed by, jerking Billy against his seat cushion.

They stepped out onto the deck where many of the guests were occupied, but then stopped to grab hold of the railing as another quake came on suddenly. None of the guests seemed to notice.

"I'm sure that Kaldur knows, he's messing with us."

"I can get it Dick, the information's in the safe− he looked right at it when I mentioned secrets. If you can-"

"What is she doing here?" Dick interrupted, nudging his face to the far left, where a slender blonde woman stood on the porch by herself.

Wally sighed in frustration. He wasn't that surprised, of course his subconscious would bring her here. "I'll deal with it, you just get to your room and stay away from Kaldur."

"Fine, but I thought you had that under control." Dick murmured as he walked back inside the ornate building. Wally stepped across the deck to where the blonde was staring out over the edge of the porch, and the dark waves of water beneath it. In her hands was a glass of champagne, bubbling slightly.

"If I jumped, would I survive?"

Wally glanced at the water, then to her, "A clean dive, maybe. Arty, what are you doing here?"

She gazed at him with small smile on her face, "I thought that you might've been missing me."

He took her wrist and kissed it gently, focusing in on her sparkling gray eyes."You know I am, but I can't trust you anymore."

Her brow furrowed, just like it always did when she was annoyed with him. "So what?" She pulled back her hand, and sipped from her glass. Wally moved back to go back to the the archway he'd come from, but stopped, an idea forming, and held his arm out. "Would you care to join me?"

Artemis wrapped her arm around his and they began to pace through the nouveau-riche decorated castle-like hallways. He led her to a bedroom suite, the walls covered with simple watercolor paintings.

"Looks like Richard's taste." Artemis commented, as she watched the redhead in slight disinterest, casually twiddling her wine glass in between her fingers. Wally had walked over to the window, and noticed a few guards patrolling the beach.

"Actually, Mr. Kaldur'ahm has a certain interest in early twentieth century Post-Impressionism." Wally pulled on a pair of black gloves, and gestured towards a leather chair, "Care to sit?'

Artemis moved lightly to the chair and sat down, eyes set on Wally as he advanced towards her and knelt down, hands pulling out dark rope from his pocket. He tied it to the foot of the chair.

"Tell me Wally, do the children miss me?"

He looked sadly up at her, green eyes meeting her gray ones. A pit formed in his stomach, and he couldn't, no matter how much he tried, to verbalize his thoughts. His gloved fingers traced the bone of her ankle, and a quiet "You can't imagine." was the only thing that he could manage to let out..

She darted her eyes away from him, instead focusing on the rope being tied to the chair. Wally stood back up, unraveling the rope in his hands as he treaded softly to the window.

"What do you think you're doing?" Artemis's voice rang out, in that same tone that he remembered from when he first met her.

"Just getting some air. Stay seated, please." Wally stated, right as he jumped out the window and began to rappel down the side of the wall. Eventually, he stopped, and from his pocket took out a pair of glass cutters. He slowly sliced into the window, when suddenly, he dropped nearly fifteen feet lower.

Glancing up, Wally saw the leather chair, empty and stopped at the very edge of the window.

"Dammit Artemis." He muttered under his breath, while shaking his head. Climbing back up the rope, he made it to the spot he'd been working on. Thankfully, he hadn't dropped the glass cutter.

Wally dropped soundlessly into the kitchen through the window, barely able to see the counters in front of him. He took out the pistol he had stashed in his jacket, and screwed a silencer attachment onto the weapon as he strode through the halls of the complex. His footsteps padded lightly against the wooden stairs that he descended. Gun in hand, he stopped as a sentry paced down the middle of a gigantic gallery of statues and porcelain vases.

The watchman pivoted in his direction, and Wally positioned his gun at the man and pulled the trigger, hitting him straight to the head. Wally sprinted to the body as it fell, catching the limp form before it crashed onto the floor. He lowered the dead man quietly, and continued to the dining room that he'd preoccupied earlier, the room only having a few candles on the table providing light.

He swiftly moved to the right wall, where a small painting hung against the wall, covering the safe that Wally had suspected was there. He removed the painting, sliding it down to the ground. With his gloved hands, he spun the dial carefully, listening for a clicking. Finally, he unlocked the safe, and opened the lid.

Inside, a small envelope lay neatly placed in the middle of the space. From his jacket, his fingers searched for the identical envelope he had stored. Wally swapped them, and hiding the real one. He was about to place the copy into the safe, when the lights suddenly flickered on. He turned slowly, and found himself facing none other Mr. Kaldur'ahm, being accompanied by Artemis; pistol in hand.

"Oh, Wallace, when will you learn?" She clucked at him, "The gun, dear."

Going through his mind was a thousand different ways this could play out. He didn't move, intent on showing he wasn't afraid of his current situation. Artemis simply sighed, then waved out of the archway for someone to come. Loud grunts soon filled the hallway, and suddenly two guards brought in Dick, who was struggling in his bonds.

Artemis strode over to Dick, and positioned the gun at his dark-haired head.

Shit. Wally thought to himself. Now, the outcome of this was likely not to end in his favor.

Artemis smirked. "Gun, please."

Swearing internally, Wally gently placed his weapon on the table and pushed it down halfway from his reach, stepping back afterwards.

"Now, if you would give me back my secrets Mr. West, that would be beneficial for your friend." Kaldur stretched his hand out, motioning for the envelope. Wally frowned, and then dropped it onto the dining table. He slowly walked backwards, hands raised to make sure they thought he wasn't a threat.

"Tell me, did she tell you, or have you suspected all this time?"

Kaldur'ahm stepped towards where he had been sitting earlier, hands in his pockets. "About how you're here to steal from me Mr. West?" He paused, and smiled slightly, "Or that we're actually in a dream?"

Wally ignored the dead-pan, 'I-told-you-so' look that Dick was giving him, focusing his full attention on Kaldur as he came closer to the envelope.

"I want the name of your employer, Mr. West"

Artemis stuck out her lip, and took the safety of the gun off. Wally looked over at her. "What's the point of threatening him in a dream, Arty?"

Her cold gray eyes penetrated his, "Depends, what exactly do you think I'm threatening? If I were to kill him, he'd just wake up. But pain..." She motioned the gun down to Dick's knee, and sent a sick smile at Wally, "Pain is in the mind."

She pulled the trigger, sending a bullet to his kneecap, and forcing a strangled cry from his lips. She hushed him, cooing softly and flitting her fingers gently across his cheek, "And as I told Wallace earlier, I believe this taste in design belongs to you Richard, making this your mind, hmmm?"

Dick was too busy biting down on his lower lip in agony to reply. Artemis shrugged, "Now Wallace, answer the man's question." She positioned the pistol to his other knee.

Instinct took over, as Wally sprang across the table with intense speed, grabbing his gun which, without thought, he aimed straight between Dick's brows and shot. Chaos erupted throughout the room as Dick fell to the floor, and the walls all began to shake. Wally sprinted out of the room, not looking back once.

Bright, blue eyes flashed open, taking in the dingy apartment that was far too cramped for Dick's liking. His fingers grasped around the arms of his chair for a brief moment, before he realized what had happened. Dick clawed out the tubes attached to his wrist, allowing the silvery blue liquid to pour out onto the floor.

Billy, who had been watching the scene outside, clambered to his side, face full of worry. "Why're you here!? It's too early!"

Moving across the uncomfortably small space, Dick fumbled with the silver case to where Kaldur was strewn on a bed.

"I know, I know, I need to reconnect it before either of them wake!" His nimble hands lifted the tube from the businessman's arm, trying to inject the other mixture into it. He began turning knobs and pressing buttons in the case, attention fully on keeping the situation under control.

Kaldur's other hand twitched slightly.

Just keep running, don't look back! Forget about Kaldur, forget about the guards, forget about Artemis! Just run! Run!

Wally thought to himself this, as he bolted out of the dining room and through the halls, trying not to stumble as the building heaved and shook with might. The stairs were his best bet; get to the stairs, and you can get out to the beach.

His breath was coming out in short quick gasps as he avoided the falling ceiling beams along with the gunfire coming from Kaldur's guards. Occasionally he'd fire back, but most of the time he just avoided them. Running away was his gut reaction, but Wally knew that his top priority was to find out the information he'd been payed to receive.

In the trembling dining room, Kaldur and the few guards that remained were stumbling as the rafters broke apart. Artemis, however, was carefully stepping around the broken glass and wood, to the ebony table where Kaldur's envelope was sitting.

"That was very close, very close..."

She handed the papers to Kaldur, smirk on her beautiful face and gun still cocked in her other hand, and walks out into the hallway to watch the destruction around them.

Suddenly, Kaldur twisted around and threw the envelope back down on the table.

"Where are they, this is not mine!"

Panicking, his guards ran out the hall, in the direction of Wally, as Artemis picked the papers up. Empty. Each sheet blank, and Kaldur's secrets nowhere to be found. She rolled her eyes and smiled, just as the walls around them came crashing down.

"He always was a brilliant thief."

Reaching the stairs, Wally hid behind the railing and frantically ripped apart the envelope he'd stashed in his pocket, desperately reading each line of text.

"Lantis industry has found a major breakthrough in ... development. Given enough time and resources, the company could ... and ... This plan has also been approved for ..."

It wasn't complete. Not all the information was there, the important details, the ones he'd been paid to find, were missing.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" He yelled out, and broke cover to get down the stairs. The thugs had finally caught up to him.

Kaldur continued to stir as Dick desperately worked the silver case, knobs turning quickly and buttons continuing to be pressed. Sweat had rolled down his neck and soaked his back, his white dress shirt plastered to his skin.

"Billy, we're not gonna be able to reattach, you've gotta wake West!" He yelled from across the room. The younger man nodded, turning and running back into the bathroom, before attempting to wake Wally. He shoved and slapped the red-haired man, desperate for him to wake, but to no avail.

Kaldur's eyes flickered awake.

"Ugh! He's not waking!" Billy grunted, still shaking Wally. Dick grit his teeth and quickly wrenched his neck to yell at the architect, "Then dunk him!" He rolled his eyes slightly, turning back around, to be facing Kaldur, sitting up and holding Dick's own gun to his head. He motioned for Dick to stay quiet, a hint of a smile on his face.

Billy sighed, before pressing his hand against Wally's forehead, and pushed him backwards, into the tub.

Wally wished he could look down at his watch to see how much time he had left, but that would've slowed him down. Not that it mattered if he was 'killed', but now it was a matter of pride. He didn't want anyone to have the satisfaction of shooting him, even if it was all just a dream. So he continued to run, looking for the door, when he was thrown across the hall, into a table. Cringing, he wrinkled his brow. Someone was trying to wake him up, probably.

"Well good, it's about time I got the hell outta here." He mumbled to himself, wiping the debris and continuing to run. He stopped in the final hall-way, in front of the main door, when a low rumble in the distance stopped him. Water began to spray into the building from the windows, gallons and gallons splashing towards the red-head.

"Well shit, this is gonna-!"

His words were cut off as the waves crashed into his form.


End file.
